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Rent is the exuberant 2005 film version of the long running Broadway musical, loosely based on the opera LaBoheme, that swept the 1997 Tony Awards, which follows an eclectic group of Greenwich Village residents navigating the choppy waters of life that include drug addiction, homelessness, AIDS, commitment phobias, and other realities of life for New Yorkers, as well as the rest of us.
The standout element of this musical for me is the amazing musical score by the late Jonathan Larson. The song score for this story is alternately in-your-face and haunting, perfectly blending rich melodies with rapid-fire, almost rap-like patter that brings to mind rock operas like Jesus Christ Superstar. The talented cast (several from the Broadway show)includes Anthony Rapp as Mark, a documentary filmmaker, Adam Pascal as Roger, a songwriter who falls for a stripper with a heroine addiction named Mimi (Rosario Dawson), Tony Winner Idina Munzel (WICKED) as Maureen, a free-spirited, lesbian performance artist and Tracie Thomas as her new lover, Joanne, and a pair of memorable turns from Wilson Jermaine Heredia and Jesse L, Martin as a drag queen and hustler, both afflicted with AIDS, who fall for each other. Those who only know Martin for his work on NBC's LAW & ORDER will be in for quite the surprise as this role is about as far removed from Lt. Ed Green as you can imagine.
I liked that director Chris Columbus took the chance of utilizing most of the original Broadway cast in bringing this musical to the screen. With the exceptions of Rosario Dawson ad Tracie Thomas, the other leads came straight from the Broadway production, even though few of them were movie names. An actor who plays the same character for eight performances a week for several years is going to understand that character better than anyone and I think this is why this musical works so well...these actors have inhabited these characters for a long time and make the moviegoer care about them and possibly seek out the original stage version.
Standout musical numbers include the now classic "Seasons of Love", "The Tango Maureen", "Take Me or Leave Me", "Light My Candle" and "Will I ?", a touching allegory performed at an AIDS support group. Now I'm sure those who saw Rent on stage will have a plethora of complaints about this film version but as someone who didn't, this film version was a joy.
Rent is the exuberant 2005 film version of the long running Broadway musical, loosely based on the opera LaBoheme, that swept the 1997 Tony Awards, which follows an eclectic group of Greenwich Village residents navigating the choppy waters of life that include drug addiction, homelessness, AIDS, commitment phobias, and other realities of life for New Yorkers, as well as the rest of us.
The standout element of this musical for me is the amazing musical score by the late Jonathan Larson. The song score for this story is alternately in-your-face and haunting, perfectly blending rich melodies with rapid-fire, almost rap-like patter that brings to mind rock operas like Jesus Christ Superstar. The talented cast (several from the Broadway show)includes Anthony Rapp as Mark, a documentary filmmaker, Adam Pascal as Roger, a songwriter who falls for a stripper with a heroine addiction named Mimi (Rosario Dawson), Tony Winner Idina Munzel (WICKED) as Maureen, a free-spirited, lesbian performance artist and Tracie Thomas as her new lover, Joanne, and a pair of memorable turns from Wilson Jermaine Heredia and Jesse L, Martin as a drag queen and hustler, both afflicted with AIDS, who fall for each other. Those who only know Martin for his work on NBC's LAW & ORDER will be in for quite the surprise as this role is about as far removed from Lt. Ed Green as you can imagine.
I liked that director Chris Columbus took the chance of utilizing most of the original Broadway cast in bringing this musical to the screen. With the exceptions of Rosario Dawson ad Tracie Thomas, the other leads came straight from the Broadway production, even though few of them were movie names. An actor who plays the same character for eight performances a week for several years is going to understand that character better than anyone and I think this is why this musical works so well...these actors have inhabited these characters for a long time and make the moviegoer care about them and possibly seek out the original stage version.
Standout musical numbers include the now classic "Seasons of Love", "The Tango Maureen", "Take Me or Leave Me", "Light My Candle" and "Will I ?", a touching allegory performed at an AIDS support group. Now I'm sure those who saw Rent on stage will have a plethora of complaints about this film version but as someone who didn't, this film version was a joy.